I used to have one of the original Pi's in a plain perspex case until it recently got squashed in a move. So I went all out and purchased a 3B+ as well as a Samsung mSATA SSD.

I am only new to Linux and am learning hence the beginner's post.

I am trying to learn how to partition my SSD and then boot from it. I make a boot partition in FAT32, and made another partition, and tried to install via NOOB, but it only see's the whole SSD, not my partition.

Is it possible, if so, is there any instructions? I am fairly literate when it comes to computers.

I used to have one of the original Pi's in a plain perspex case until it recently got squashed in a move. So I went all out and purchased a 3B+ as well as a Samsung mSATA SSD.

I am only new to Linux and am learning hence the beginner's post.

I am trying to learn how to partition my SSD and then boot from it. I make a boot partition in FAT32, and made another partition, and tried to install via NOOB, but it only see's the whole SSD, not my partition.

Is it possible, if so, is there any instructions? I am fairly literate when it comes to computers.

as pointed out by the gurus here, better start with a clean install of latest Raspbian Stretch image to mSATA SSD, for a new fresh installation so that it will boot from mSATA, that is if you have not populated your current installation with your favorite apps and settings.

This one worked for me, coping an image installed Raspbian to USB device using SD Card Copier.

for NOOBS current installation, better search for a tutorial to do so. I failed several times booting from cloned NOOBS installed raspbian to USB device. There are some out there.... somewhere...

Last edited by LTolledo on Wed May 23, 2018 2:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

"Don't come to me with 'issues' for I don't know how to deal with those...
Come to me with 'problems' and I'll help you find solutions"

That's more complicated than just using dd which is already in the Raspbian images. The image file has 2 partitions in it, the device you write it to will end up with 2 partitions. There's code in there to resize the / partition on first boot so it fills the disk, that's automatic. Well, now you're not a newbie anymore. Not sure why it hung on boot, might have had to do with the resizing going on. Normally it reboots itself once the first time.

It tells you to use 'Etcher'. Stupid question, can I use Etcher on the Pi itself, or do I have to plug the mSATA into my Windows PC or something to image it?

As noted above, its dead easy on the Pi as it runs Linux.
You can use etcher on the Pi but I never do, the "cp" command (simplest) or "dd" do the job fine, no need for any software to be installed, and don't need a GUI. You are simply copying a file!